


nothing ever seems so (the prince and the blade remix)

by spectrespecs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Admiral Takashi 6 foot 4 and Massively Thick Shirogane, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Galra Keith (Voltron), Getting to Know Each Other, Identity Swap, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Allura/Lotor (Voltron), Mostly Fluff, Mutual Pining, Sparring, accidental dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25059835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spectrespecs/pseuds/spectrespecs
Summary: Prince Lotor and his advisor Blade of Marmora Keith are traveling to Earth to meet with Princess Allura and Admiral Takashi Shirogane for talks about Daibazaal joining the Universal Coalition. Lotor gets the bright idea for him and Keith to pretend to be each other for the trip. Unfortunately, Keith and Shiro are not quite prepared to meet each other.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 174
Collections: Sheith Remix 2020





	nothing ever seems so (the prince and the blade remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Prince and the Blade](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807408) by [ragdollrory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragdollrory/pseuds/ragdollrory). 



> For Sheith Remix 2020!
> 
> This was my first remix, and I had a great time getting to remix ragdollrory's fic!
> 
> Title from [Woodwind by Other Lives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIX4kbpFEiE).

“Sorry I’m late,” Shiro apologizes to the room as he walks in carrying a half-eaten granola bar in one hand. It’s not really the best image to make as the Admiral of the Galaxy Garrison and one of the leaders of the Universal Coalition, but it's been a rough morning. He didn’t mean to sleep in late, it just happened. He’s only human. The eyes of various Garrison and Coalition officials follow him as he makes his way to the open seat next to Allura.

“Charming,” Allura mutters as he sits down, and Shiro offers her a wide, joking grin in response.

King Alfor clears his throat and stands up from where he is sitting at the head of the table. “Now, if we can begin since Admiral Shirogane has shown up,” he starts with a raised eyebrow at Shiro. “As everyone here knows, we have been working on getting the planet of Daibazaal to become part of the Coalition, and it seems we might finally have a breakthrough in these talks.”

Murmurs spread through some of the meeting attendees who have been part of the Coalition for longer. Shiro sits up a bit straighter at the news. Earth may only have been part of the Coalition for the last five years, but his position as a leader has given him more insight than most into how valuable gaining Daibazaal and the Galra people will be.

Five years ago, Shiro was just a young pilot in his early 20s. Yes, he was incredibly accomplished and held more records than he could remember at that point, but he still never felt any better or different because of his achievements. The day that he was informed he would pilot the Galaxy Garrison mission to Kerberos was the first time Shiro truly realized that all his hard work had finally paid off. It just so happened that during that mission when he was just minding his business helping out Sam and Matt Holt collect their ice samples that an extraordinarily daunting alien ship found them. 

The trio had been quickly ushered onto the ship, which had then led to the first time Shiro met Allura. Their first meeting had been cold on both ends, trying to remain passive while feeling each other out, but Shiro had been tired and nervous leading him to crack a joke during the meeting. It had ended up being a good move because it amused Allura, and from that moment on, their friendship had been set. 

The Garrison was surprised that the expedition that was meant to be for the study of minerals in other parts of the solar system had ended up providing Earth with its first alien contact. From there Allura along with her crew had told the Garrison about their planet, Altea, and how she was the princess of the planet currently exploring the galaxy to find new planets to recruit into the Universal Coalition, an effort started by the Alteans long, long ago to bring all the inhabitants of the universe together. 

Shiro remembers being worried that somehow, somewhere, something in the process would go wrong and end in the universe shunning Earth, but everything had gone surprisingly well in the brokering of the deals needed for Earth to join the Coalition. Somewhere in the middle of that, Shiro even found himself being promoted to the position of Admiral of the Galaxy Garrison and given the role as Earth’s main leader in the Coalition. The latter had been mostly Allura’s doing as the two found themselves becoming even closer friends. 

But one thing that Shiro knew very early on in his friendship with Allura was that the one regret that she and her father had in regards to the Coalition was with Daibazaal. When the planets of Altea and Oriande first formed the Coalition, King Alfor went to his old friend Emperor Zarkon of Daibazaal to have him join, but a dispute over sharing technological and scientific advancements had led to a severing of that relationship and any chance of the Galra becoming part of the Coalition. It had been a blow to not only the Coalition but also Alfor because he had always considered Zarkon to be one of his best friends. Apparently Zarkon’s wife, Empress Honerva, was Altean.

With all these bits of knowledge floating in his head at King Alfor’s announcement, Shiro’s attention is grabbed and he leans forward a bit to focus on the rest of the information.

“In a day’s time, a delegation will be arriving on Earth from Daibazaal consisting of Prince Lotor and a few of his trusted generals and guards. They will stay here for a week, during which Princess Allura and Prince Lotor will hold discussions about Daibazaal’s place within the Coalition. At the end of the week we hope to have reached a successful agreement and will hold a ball in celebration because, surprisingly, the Galra do enjoy that type of pomp celebration. King Alfor and Queen Honerva will be likely joining us for that.”

Murmurs pass through the room as the leaders of various planets that are in the Coalition talk amongst themselves at the news. Alfor opens his mouth to most likely quiet everyone down but his top advisor Coran very unsubtly clears his throat, and that manages to shut everyone up.

“I take it from that reaction that everyone is favorable to this? Any objections?” his question is met with silence. “Excellent, that concludes that and this meeting can be over. Many thanks to you all for attending.” Shiro pushes back from the table, but he’s apparently not free yet. “Admiral Shirogane, can you please stay behind for a moment?”

“Of course,” Shiro shuffles back to the table. 

Once the room clears out, it’s just Shiro, King Alfor, Allura, and Coran left, and then Alfor speaks. “Admiral, Allura, and I would like you to go along with Allura during these meetings with Prince Lotor. We think you will be most valuable to have along with her, especially given your status within the Coalition leadership.”

“I would be honored to,” Shiro replies without a second thought. “Yes.”

“Excellent,” Alfor leans back in his chair and claps his hands, resting his elbows on the table as he leans forward. “I think you two work well together.”

“I think so,” Allura agrees with a nod. “We can spend some time going over what I know about Daibazaal and Lotor later today, if that works for you, Shiro?”

“Sure,” Shiro agrees.

“Good, good,” Alfor is looking at Allura when he speaks. “I think, if all goes well, we may even be able to establish another type of relationship with the Galra after this.”

“Father,” Allura snaps back.

“I’m simply speculating,” Alfor shrugs. 

Shiro looks confused between Alfor and Allura, and when he looks to Coran to understand the meaning of the short exchange, he’s met with the advisor twirling his bright orange mustache with a smile. Fine, maybe there’s something more going on here than Shiro knows, but at least he knows what to expect for the most part with peace talks.

\---

“What exactly will this gain?” Keith asks the room. The ship is set to land on Earth in a little less than a varga, and this is when Lotor decides to spring this plan on Keith. It also seems everyone thinks this is a good idea. “Mom?” Keith frowns and looks to Krolia standing with her arms crossed next to him.

“I think the plan has its merits to really see the true colors of Princess Allura and Admiral Shirogane,” she replies.

“This feels like a trick,” Keith turns back to Lotor.

“I assure you that I know it will not be met this way,” Lotor says. “I promise, Keith. Trust me.”

Keith sighs. “Fine, I’ll pretend to be you, but I’m not happy about it. You owe me.”

“Of course, I’ll give you the finest land on Daibazaal after all this,” Lotor offers. Keith knows he’s joking. 

Keith and Lotor have been best friends for as long as Keith can remember, from running around the castle on Daibazaal when they were kids to now when Keith is running after Lotor trying to keep him in line as his guard. At its heart, their friendship always remains the same, and that’s why it is upsettingly easy for Keith to agree to this plan.

Daibazaal had retreated from interacting with the larger universal agreements and relationships long enough ago that no one outside of the planet really knows what Lotor looks like, so even though it may seem ridiculous to Keith, most non-Galrans wouldn’t know that Keith who is smaller than the average but agile with dark hair Galra isn’t Lotor and that the tall, sleek silver-haired Galra isn’t his guard. It almost makes Keith think that this plan will go over well. Almost.

“Come on, little blade,” Lotor gestures for Keith to follow him, and Keith rolls his eyes. Lotor’s generals, Zethrid, Ezor, and Acxa follow Keith after Lotor from the room. Keith is the sole Blade member that goes with Lotor while Krolia, Kolivan, Thace, and Antok retreat to another part of the ship. One of the first things Keith understood as a child was that his mother was a member of the Blade of Marmora, the stealth group and guards of Daibazaal. The following thing that Keith knew after that was that he would one day be a member. Because of his training, Keith tends to want to stay in the shadows while walking, but today Lotor is taking this behavior as sulking.

“It’s not going to be that bad,” Acxa tries to convince him.

“Doubt it,” Keith counters. “What am I going to wear, my Blade uniform?”

“Don’t be silly, I have royal garments for you,” Lotor replies.

“But I don’t fit your clothes.”

“I know, and that’s why I had clothes made for you.”

“How long exactly have you been planning this, and why did you decide to tell us right before we reached Earth?” Keith asks, annoyance clear in his voice.

Lotor shrugs. “A bit.”

“A bit, of course,” Keith mutters to himself.

It turns out that Lotor was leading them back to his quarters on the ship where he then reveals the royal garments he had made just right for Keith’s size. “Now, go get ready, Keith,” Lotor pats his shoulder. “You need to look like a prince in about, oh, half-a-varga.” Keith maybe hates his best friend.

\---

Shiro is wrong. He is so very wrong that  _ no _ he does  _ not _ know what to always expect with diplomatic meetings because as he watches the delegation from Daibazaal walk off the ship, he sees the most beautiful individual his eyes have ever seen, and about ten seconds later he realizes it’s Prince Lotor. Which is bad. Very bad.

After the meeting yesterday when Allura and Shiro were going over information to prepare for the meeting, Allura had admitted that her father had hopes that Allura and Lotor might get along well enough to maybe even marry one day, which would help strengthen the bonds between the Coalition. Shiro had been surprised first at what he felt was an extremely traditional ideal, and then he was even more stunned to hear that Allura might not actually mind that too much.

“Really?” Shiro had questioned, trying not to press too much.

“It might be nice,” Allura had blushed and shrugged, throwing her loose hair over a shoulder.

So, if Allura and Alfor were thinking that, obviously, the Princess and the Prince should get together, then Shiro should not be having any feelings whatsoever about said Prince. Except he looks stunning. He was shorter than the other Galra, which Shiro assumed might be a result of being half-Altean, as he knew Lotor was. There was a single dark purple face marking on Lotor’s face that resembled the pair that one of the Galra in the delegation also had, so Shiro guessed they were likely a trait among the Galra like moles on human skin. The prince’s hair was long and dark and left to freely flow as he walked. Some of the other Galra, like the tall silver-haired guard at the Prince’s side, had their long hair carefully pulled into long braids, but not Lotor. On top of everything, the dark royal armor that the Prince wore managed to sit snugly across his body to give Shiro just the barest idea of the lithe muscle that was underneath it and undoubtedly extremely powerful. And most intriguing of all, Shiro can see that Keith has a whiplike tail that softly swishes as he walks.

He spent so long simply staring at Prince Lotor that Shiro didn’t realize that he and Allura had also started walking forward to meet them half-way until they were stopped right in front of each other.

“Prince Lotor,” Allura greeted with a bow of her head.

“H-hi, Princess Allura, it’s my pleasure,” Lotor stumbled over his words. Shiro watched the tall Galra at the Prince’s side smirk and then quickly school his features. It figured that the Prince would be flustered over Allura as she is very beautiful, that’s something Shiro at least knows for certain. He tries not to be disappointed by Lotor’s reaction to the Princess, but the fumbling is endearing at the same time.

Allura giggles and turns to Shiro. “Please let me introduce you to the Admiral of the Galaxy Garrison and Earth’s Universal Coalition Leader, Takashi Shirogane.”

The Prince’s eyes move from Allura to Shiro and then grow wide as if he’s noticing Shiro for the very first time. Shiro tries to not be disappointed by the reaction he gets from Prince Lotor, so he just smiles and gives a small bow of his head. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“O-oh, Admiral, it’s good to meet you, too,” the Prince hastily returns the greeting, tripping over his words again. Maybe he’s just nervous like this all the time? Shiro admits it doesn’t feel very princely, but it endears him to the Prince quite a bit. Silence then stretches between the groups until someone lets out a small cough, which snaps Prince Lotor out of his momentary daze. “And please let me introduce you to my guard and advisor, Keith,” he gestures to the silver-haired Galra at his side, who bows. Lotor then goes on to introduce the rest of the guards and his generals. 

From there, the delegation follows Shiro and Allura into the Galaxy Garrison. The rest of the day is spent getting to know the visiting Galra while also familiarizing them with the Garrison and aspects of Earth. Shiro provides some explanations about the Garrison to the group, and he was pleased to see that the Prince kept his eyes quite attentive on him when Shiro spoke. When everyone sits down for a shared dinner in the evening, they’re joined by King Alfor, Coran, and a few Garrison upper brass as well. 

“How’s it been going?” Commander Iverson asks as he takes a seat next to Shiro.

“Pretty good,” Shiro nods. “They don’t seem impressed by the Garrison, but I think it’s at least adequate to them.”

“I hear they’re more advanced than the Alteans even, so that makes sense,” Iverson replies.

Shiro gives a hum in response, but that’s all he’s able to say to the Commander before Alfor stands up from his seat.

“I just want to thank our Galra delegation once again for making the trip down to Earth for these talks, and may they go well starting tomorrow. I just wanted to check if there’s anything before then that you would like to go over Prince Lotor or any of your guards and generals?”

Prince Lotor sits quietly and just stares at Alfor for a moment before seeming to remember himself and nod. “Yes, thank you, King Alfor,” Lotor pushes back from the table, his dark hair falls into his face in the process and he neatly tucks it behind a pointed ear. “Thank you for hosting us so kindly, and we have high hopes for our meeting tomorrow with Princess Allura and Admiral Shirogane,” Lotor nods to both of them as he says their names. “I will have my guard and advisor, Keith, with me for the talks,” this time Lotor nods to the silver-haired Galra that’s always at his side that Shiro has since learned to be a member of the Blade of Marmora, the guards and stealth team of Daibazaal. “We both look forward to it.” Lotor then takes a seat.

“Wonderful, we look forward to your stay. I also wanted to announce that no matter what outcomes, we have planned for a party of sorts to take place on your final day here. We hope that is okay” Alfor says with a smile. 

“That sounds wonderful,” Lotor says with a nod.

Alfor's smile grows wider. “Delightful, let’s continue our meal then, shall we?” With that, he sits down, and Iverson turns to Shiro to resume their conversation. But Shiro notices the Prince’s eyes drift to him while Allura shares a brief look with the Blade, Keith. It’s strange, Shiro vaguely thinks, but he lets it pass because he’s tired and hungry and needs to mentally prepare for possibly three full days of diplomatic meetings with a party at the end.

\---

“Lotor, this is bad,” Keith shakes his head while pacing the quarters in the Galaxy Garrison he was given to stay in for the duration of the visit. “They’re going to catch on and know something is not as it seems.”

“It’s going to be fine, Keith,” Lotor is lounging on the couch in the room, splayed out, the picture of ease and relaxation.

“No, but Lotor, what’s going to happen when we reveal we’re not who we say?” Keith asks, panicked.

“It’s going to be fine,” Lotor says flatly. “Believe me.”

“I believe you but I don’t,” Keith snaps back.

“Is that any way to talk to your Prince?” Lotor asks with a raised eyebrow.

“I think you’ll find that I am currently the Prince,” Keith points at himself since he’s still wearing the royal armor.

Lotor snorts. “I can’t believe that the power is already getting to your head, little blade.”

“Stop calling me that,” Keith frowns. Lotor has referred to him with that nickname since they were kids. Keith knows that he’s small for a Galra because he’s only half, the other half being human, which he’s always been mildly curious about and assumed he would never get the opportunity to find out more about. But then this mission fell into his lap, and now he’s on the very planet where his father likely lives. 

Keith had asked Krolia about trying to find his father while they were on Earth, but his mother had promptly put her foot down on that.

“It wouldn’t be wise,” she had said, and then walked away, leaving the conversation there. While that had been beyond frustrating for Keith, he had enough respect for his mother to not keep pestering her about it, which didn’t mean he couldn’t do any digging on his own. That had been his plan before Lotor had thrown this stupid idea to switch places into the mix, and now Keith couldn’t just sneak away to try and find out information about his father. No, now he had to sit in meetings with Lotor, Princess Allura, and the very attractive Admiral Shirogane.

That had really been the best part of the day, getting to stand there while the incredibly beautiful and muscled Admiral had spoken to them about the Galaxy Garrison. There were moments when the Admiral had moved his arm in such a way that pulled his uniform across his chest, appearing as if it would burst at the seams at any moment. Keith really wished it had, but maybe there was still a chance for it happening during another day of their visit. Something to keep things exciting. And then there was the Altean tech arm that Admiral Shirogane had. It looked as though one hand could easily wrap around Keith’s thighs, and that really did something for Keith.

But all of this would always just be fantasy because Keith was also aware that he cannot be showing any type of interest in the Admiral during this visit, which is unfortunate. Keith is certain that if this whole switching roles ruse wasn’t happening, he might have had the chance to maybe get to know the Admiral, just a little bit.

“What are you thinking about?” Lotor asks, breaking into Keith’s thoughts.

“Nothing,” Keith says and flings himself down onto the bed. It’s not really that comfortable, and he regrets the choice he made to throw himself down with that much force.

“You had a deep Keith Thinking Face on, though,” Lotor presses.

“It’s nothing, I’m just tired and thinking about how the talks will go tomorrow,” Keith explains, which is a half-truth.

“Don’t be worried, you already know what you need to say, and I’ll be there to help, and, honestly, maybe end up doing most of the talking,” Lotor shrugs.

“Won’t it look bad that the Prince doesn’t know what to say?”

“No,” Lotor shrugs again. “Anyway, I know we’ll end this all in an agreement. Don’t worry.”

“How do you know?” Keith asks again.”

“I just know,” Lotor smirks. “Trust me, little blade.”

\---

The first day of meeting with Prince Lotor and Keith goes surprisingly well, Shiro thinks, as there seems to be very little that they disagree on when trying to form an agreement for Daibazaal’s joining of the Coalition. Shiro almost feels like if they really wanted to, the whole matter could be wrapped up in a day, but they don’t push for that. Shiro’s a little disappointed they can’t just call it all good after the first meeting, but he’s also a bit relieved that it gives them more time with the Prince and Keith. Well, he’s mostly thankful for getting to see Lotor more.

As they conclude their first day of successful talks and planning, Allura turns to the two Galra. “Prince Lotor, Keith, would you be interested in going out into the desert later this evening? It would be an excellent opportunity to see some of Earth’s natural geography as well as the view of the night sky.”

Shiro loves any chance to get out of the Garrison to go admire the stars from the desert, so he nods excitedly in agreement. “It really is quite lovely.”

Prince Lotor’s bright eyes go wide and he turns to look at Keith, who smirks and nods. Shiro still finds it a little odd how much the Prince looks to the Blade, but it is respectable that he takes so much consideration from his advisor. “I think that sounds like a good idea.”

“Excellent,” Shiro feels a bit of childish excitement at the idea of getting to go out into the desert after a day of diplomatic talks. “Why don’t you meet us in the Garrison hangar in two vargas?”

“That sounds acceptable, thank you, Admiral,” Lotor gives a small bow of his head and one of the locks of long dark hair that he had tucked falls away. Shiro once finds himself thinking about moving forward to put it back in place and realizes he’s been staring. “Um, Prince Lotor, it might be good if you can, um, put your hair up in some way. It gets pretty windy and all the dust gets kicked up as well.”

The Prince meets Shiro’s eyes and Shiro wonders if he just crossed some line like a bumbling idiot, but thankfully, Lotor gives a small smile and nods. “Thank you, Admiral. We’ll see you both shortly.”

Shiro’s eyes follow Lotor out of the room with barely a glance at Keith as they leave, but then the sound of Allura laughing makes him whip his head to look at her. “What’s funny?” he asks.

“You’re very obvious, you know,” Allura giggles again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shiro huffs.

“Of course, Admiral,” Allura says his title in that taunting way that means she’s not buying any of his shit.

He spends the next two vargas trying to not dwell on what Allura said to him and wonders if maybe he is being a little too obvious about his crush on the Prince, but how could he not fall for that slender muscle and long, dark hair? Shiro also thinks he could listen to Lotor talk all day, that deep gravelly voice was both warm and forceful at the same time. It made Shiro understand why he was a leader. Compared to Keith’s voice that managed to always sound a little sarcastic, which would set Shiro on edge during meetings, Shiro had relished any time Lotor spoke.

Shiro tries to accomplish as much work as he needs to wrap up and eat something quickly in his quarters before throwing on some clothes that are appropriate for riding his hoverbike. He takes more time than he will admit deciding on which jacket, and he goes with the new dark grey leather one he bought recently. Once he looks himself over in the mirror and grabs the keys for his hoverbike, Shiro walks quickly to the hanger, saluting various Garrison personnel as he goes. When Shiro arrives, he sees Allura is already there, but she doesn’t have her hoverbike but rather one of the Garrison issued ones.

“Where’s yours?” Shiro asks nodding down at the plain brown and yellow-painted bike.

“Oh, it needed some repairs that I’ve been putting off, so I checked out a Garrison one,” Allura shrugged. She was wearing a form-fitting Altean flight suit with her long silver hair pulled back into a tight high bun, and she pulled on her goggles to sit against her forehead.

The explanation made sense to Shiro, so he just shrugged and went to get his bike and bring it over to Allura. When he pulled up next to her, the doors to the hangar opened and Prince Lotor and Keith walked out. They were both wearing Blade of Marmora suits, which Shiro found interesting, but then he realized that rather than the Marmora symbol on Prince Lotor’s chest he has the symbol used by Emperor Zarkon for the Galra. Keith still has his silver hair in a braid, and Shiro is devastated in the best way to see that the Prince has also braided his hair. Shiro didn’t realize he could look even more beautiful than with all that hair flowing free.

“Thank you both again for joining us for this small outing,” Allura greets the two Galra as they approach.

“Thank you for the invitation, Princess,” Keith says with a smile and inclines his head in her direction. 

“Yes, thank you,” Lotor adds.

“We’re happy to have you, but, do you both need something to protect your eyes? The dust can be unforgiving when flying,” Shiro asks.

“Oh, we have our own ways,” Lotor smirks and pulls up the hood of the suit before pushing a button on the side. A perfect mask forms over his face, and Shiro should have figured they had their own means and no need for the best earth eye protection technology: goggles.

“Well, that works,” Shiro chuckles awkwardly.

“Prince Lotor, why don’t you ride with Shiro, and Keith, I hear you are a very accomplished pilot, would you mind riding with me? I’m sure you’ll be able to fly this hoverbike well,” Allura lays out her plan, and Shiro opens his mouth to ask why she isn’t flying since she is more than capable of it. But then Allura gives him a look with wide eyes and a smile, and he knows better than to say anything else and just goes along with the Princess.

This is how Shiro ends up with Lotor seated behind him on the hoverbike with his arms wrapped around Shiro’s torso and clinging quite close. Shiro looks over his shoulder intently after they had seated themselves to see the Prince wrap his tail around his torso to keep it close. Shiro wonders what it would feel like to have it wrap around him as well. The ride is silent save for the sound of the wind going past them as the hoverbikes race out into the desert. Shiro loses himself in the feeling of flying, even if it’s just a bike and not a ship or jet, he still loves it. He glances back a few times just to make sure the Princess and the Blade are following along on their shared bike. It’s a quick look, but Shiro feels like Allura is definitely enjoying herself. He wants to laugh a little. This wasn’t Alfor’s intended plan at all, Allura being interested in the guard while Shiro silently crushes on the Prince. But, maybe it’ll be fine.

When they reach the outlook area that Allura and Shiro had decided on, they all jump off the bikes and dust themselves off. The sun has just set and the stars are slowly becoming visible in the sky above. 

“Oh,” Shiro hears Lotor breathe quietly. 

When Shiro turns to look at him, he’s struck down with the Prince’s beauty. The clear night sky dotted with stars and streaks of the Milky Way serves as the perfect backdrop for his profile. The Prince’s features are sharply pointed but there’s a softness to them with how bright his eyes look as they gaze up. Shiro can’t help but notice how much Lotor’s eyes do look like the night sky. The dark braid sits against his chest, and Shiro’s thoughts drift again to what it looked like earlier when it was free-flowing. He wonders what it would be like to softly run his fingers through that black hair. 

“You like it?” Shiro asks with a soft smile, and the Prince nods. 

Allura speaks next to him. “I believe the Daibazaal nights are more reddish, correct? Because of the atmosphere on the planet.”

“You are correct, Princess,” Keith says. Shiro once again glimpses the Blade giving Allura a fond look, and he tries to push the questions about that aside like he does his own growing crush on someone he shouldn’t be interested in. 

The quartet falls into silence for a while simply admiring the sky since they all seem to share the same appreciation for space. Eventually, Allura starts to ask the two Galra about Daibazaal while they ask Shiro and Allura about Earth and Altea. Their inquiries during the formal talks are focused on the typical diplomatic questions related to things like trade and travel, but now they’re almost childish. 

Shiro learns that in the part of Daibazaal where Lotor and Keith live near the royal capital, a game that sounds like a much more complicated version of lacrosse is the popular sport and that different regions of the planet all have their preferred games. Allura tells them about some of the culinary staples of Altea and how there are intergalactic cooking classes offered across all the Coalition planets now. Somehow Shiro’s contribution to the discussion is about the top television program on Earth currently being an animated show about robot lions that form a gigantic mech to save the universe. 

There’s something incredibly comforting in the time they spend together. All four of them are fairly young and in positions of great significance. It feels like too much is being placed on all their shoulders, maybe, Shiro thinks. But this evening was a nice break from that, a reminder that yes, he’s spending his days defending the universe as best he can, but Shiro can still have moments to remind himself that he’s allowed to have fun and enjoy. 

He also just adores the sound of the Prince’s rough laugh.

\---

“So, the Admiral?” Lotor smirks at Keith as they leave the second meeting with Allura and Shiro. They’re walking through the hallways of the Garrison back to their quarters. Keith only took a varga to fully map the base and learn his way around.

“What about him?” Keith feigns ignorance at the question.

“You like him,” Lotor says it as a fact, not as a question.

“N-no, no I don’t,” Keith stutters out, but it’s a lie, and Lotor will know it’s a lie as well. This was supposed to be a simple mission of just visiting Earth for some diplomatic meetings, but, no, Lotor had wanted to put on this dumb switching places plan, which would have gone fine if Shiro wasn’t so charming and attractive and—

“You’re thinking about him right now,” Lotor smirks knowingly at Keith as they reach the door to his room.

“I am not,” Keith growls and hits his hand on the scanner that opens the door.

“It’s okay, Keith. I know,” Lotor pats Keith’s back sympathetically as they step into the room, and then the doors woosh close behind them.

Keith feels himself deflate a little. “I’m sorry, I’ll be, uh, less obvious.”

“Why?”

“I mean, doesn’t it feel like the Prince shouldn’t be making eyes after the Admiral like that?” Keith frowns. He’s still standing at the door while Lotor makes his way over to the couch and throws himself down, spreading out in a lounge that is truly princely.

“Why would you think that?” Lotor raises an eyebrow and asks.

“I don’t know, I just...think that,” Keith struggles to find any words to explain how he feels and falls flat.

“Keith, it’s fine, now go spend some time with the Admiral. I believe he will be showing you around the town near the Garrison today,” Lotor tells Keith, and he pulls out his datapad and starts scrolling through it.

“Why me? Alone?” Keith panics.

“Yes, Allura had something come up, I hear, so it’ll be the two of you,” Lotor shrugs and explains.

Keith frowns again. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Shouldn’t my guard be with me? Or a general or someone?” Keith is trying to find a way out of this because he doesn’t know what will happen if he gets actual one-on-one time with the Admiral. Last night in the desert had been overwhelming enough, and that was with Lotor and the Princess there with them.

“Keith, please, you can take care of yourself. Now go find your human,” Lotor waves his hand as if to dismiss him and then rises from the couch.

“Where are you going?” Keith narrows his eyes with a frown.

“Oh, just exploring myself,” Lotor says casually.

“Why?”

“Keith, I’ve never known you to be this inquisitive. Go ogle the Admiral’s biceps for a few hours. Maybe he’ll let you touch them,” Lotor snickers.

Keith feels a little agitated by Lotor, but he does also want to see Admiral Shirogane. He’s warring inside with what to do, and his tail starts to swish around angrily behind him. “Fine,” he huffs out.

“That’s the spirit!” Lotor smiles wide and puts both his hands on Keith’s shoulders. “Listen, little blade, it’s all going to be absolutely fine. Trust me. Just get to know the Admiral a little bit better.”

“So what? At the end of this, I tell him I’ve been lying to him?” Keith snaps back.

Lotor looks thoughtful. “We’ll get to that when we need to, but, for now, go on your little outing together. I’ll even stay and help you find something nice to wear.”

“All you have are flight suits and armor,” Keith frowns, yet again, and feels his ears droop in annoyance.

“I’ll find you the nicest ones I have, then,” Lotor tugs Keith along to find clothes.

A varga later and Keith is wearing a royal flight suit and standing awkwardly in the hangar where he was yesterday evening, but this time he’s waiting for the Admiral to show up. He wonders if the Admiral knows it’s just the two of them and how he’ll feel about it. Keith doesn’t know if he can handle disappointment from the human.

“Prince Lotor!” Keith whips his head around and sees Admiral Shirogane entering the hangar from a different door than the other day. He’s wearing civilian clothes again, and while Keith had very much enjoyed him in his Admiral uniform that hugs tight across his body, he’s starting to appreciate the casual Earth clothes as well. He is wearing another jacket over a snug-fitting shirt, and Keith can’t help but stare at that chest as the Admiral makes his way over.

“Hello, Admiral,” Keith nods in greeting.

“Please, call me Shiro,” he says with a wide and bright smile. 

“Of course, sorry, Shiro,” Keith says nervously. He already feels his tail betray him and wants to swish around from anticipation.

“No need to apologize,” Shiro gives a dismissive wave of his Altean arm, and Keith stares at it concluding that yes the large hand can fully wrap around his thigh. Keith is pretty sure he can. But he tears his eyes away so they don’t linger for too long. “I’m sorry to hear that Keith will be unable to join us, and Allura as well.”

Keith feels confused for a moment, dazed by this man’s presence, and almost says _ but I am here _ before he catches himself. “Yes, most unfortunate. Thank you for still taking the time for showing me the city.”

“Of course, follow me, if you would,” Shiro gestures with his head in the direction they start walking. “We’re taking a Garrison car rather than a bike, which I have a feeling we would have both preferred, but it’s easier for getting to the town.”

“That’s fine,” Keith replies, and he’s disappointed for so many reasons. Not being on a hoverbike means that Keith won’t be able to wrap his arms around Shiro and sit close and they will likely have to speak on the drive. Also, Keith will just always prefer hoverbikes.

Keith follows Shiro to the vehicle and slides into the passenger seat. The car is large and a little ungainly, Keith thinks, but maybe humans just like things big. Shiro gestures to the seat belt for safety and Keith raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Should I be worried about your driving, Admiral?” Keith asks. 

Shiro huffs out a small laugh. “No, I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“How chivalrous,” Keith laughs. That was also probably the most he has ever managed to sound like Lotor in this entire charade so far. Once Keith has buckled in, he looks over at Shiro and sees that the tips of his ears have turned a shade of light red. It’s endearing. Keith likes the Admiral’s ears. “So, how long is this ride out to the town?”

“Oh, um,” Shiro seems to have a moment of forgetfulness. “About 30 minutes.”

“Minutes?” Keith asks. 

“Oh, 45 ticks, in universal time,” Shiro corrects. 

Keith hums in response and remains silent as Shiro pulls them out of the Garrison garage and makes way to the road that will lead them to the town. “What’s the town’s name?” Keith asks. 

“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Shiro says sheepishly. 

“How?” Keith asks. 

“Well, it kind of sprung up a hundred years ago when the Garrison was built, and they named it...Garrison City,” Shiro tells him. 

“I guess that makes sense,” Keith laughs. “Something tells me you never thought it was embarrassing before?”

Shiro shakes his head as they make a turn onto the main road. “No, Allura was the first one who pointed it out to me, and I was like, well, humans, we like some simple things in life sometimes, and that applies to city naming as well.”

“I think everyone, human or not, likes the small things in life,” Keith says thoughtfully. 

“So, what small things in life do you like, Prince Lotor?” Shiro asks. 

Keith has eased so much into the conversation with Shiro that he forgot for a moment the part that he’s supposed to be playing. “Oh, well, just getting to spend time training,” Keith tries to find an acceptable answer. 

“I think training isn’t that small a part of life,” Shiro gives a small laugh as he speaks. 

“I guess so,” Keith admits. “Maybe sharpening my blade, that’s a small thing I like doing.”

“That’s terrifying in a hot way,” Shiro says, and Keith is so surprised he turns his head to look at the Admiral. “I mean, that’s, that’s very—that’s—“

“It’s okay,” Keith wants to laugh but keeps his lips pursed to avoid it. “Don’t worry.”

“Still, I apologize, that was...out of line,” Shiro’s voice has risen out of what is possibly fear. 

“Your apology can be telling me what small thing in life you like,” Keith counters. 

“Looking at the stars,” Shiro replies immediately. “I know I’ve gotten to fly out in space and see them a little closer, but there’s still something to be said about just staring up at them from the ground on Earth.”

“That’s true,” Keith agrees. “I’ve always liked to admire the sky from Daibazaal, too.”

“What you told me about it last night sounds lovely,” Shiro says. 

“It is,” Keith speaks softly and wonders if someday he will be able to show it to Shiro like he showed Keith the night sky on Earth. But Keith can’t be thinking about that and needs to pull himself back down to reality. 

After that short exchange, the two remain mostly quiet on the drive, asking and answering some other questions that come up along the way. Keith honestly thought that Shiro would want to keep talking about diplomatic matters, so he’s thankful that the Admiral mostly just wants to know more about some aspects of Daibazaal and Galra culture instead. 

When they pass a sign saying they will be Garrison City soon, Keith almost feels disappointed that they’ll be leaving this small bubble of just the two of them but at the same time, he’s very intrigued to see an Earth town. Keith knows this is half of his heritage, so he’s anxious to take some of it in. 

“Anything in particular about Earth you would like to see?” Shiro asks. “I don’t know what you know and would be interested in.”

Keith thinks for a moment about the stories that his mom has told him about his father and their time on Earth, but he decides on something else instead.

“Admiral, how about you show me what your favorite place in this town is?” Keith recommends.

A dusting of red appears on Shiro’s cheeks, and Keith believes that means that the human is embarrassed. How peculiar, but satisfying, Keith thinks. He watches as Shiro gives a small smile. “You’re leaving it up to me, huh?”

“Yes, I think you would choose a fitting place for us to go,” Keith nods. “I trust you.”

Shiro exhales slowly. “You trust me?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“I’m honored, Prince Lotor,” Shiro replies, and Keith deflates inside once again, as he does every single time he’s reminded that this wonderful and beautiful human doesn’t know the truth still and thinks he’s royalty, not just a Blade member. 

“Of course,” Keith keeps his voice steady. “Our meetings have shown me that you’re a good person, one worthy of my trust.”

“That means a lot,” Shiro speaks softly. It’s a low tone, and it warms the tips of Keith’s ears. They twitch in appreciation.

“Of course,” Keith answers in as open a voice as he can before he clears his throat. “So, where are we going?”

“To be honest,” Shiro starts and then pauses to navigate the streets they’re on. They’ve started to encounter more vehicles. “My favorite place is where we went last night.”

“The desert?”

Shiro hums, and Keith figures it must be an agreeing sound. “I like going out there to look at the stars. It’s my absolute favorite thing to do when I can get off the base.”

“And what’s your second favorite thing to do?” Keith dips his voice just a little bit intentionally, just so he can see the tips of Shiro’s ears go pink as well as his high cheekbones. He’s extremely satisfied when his words have the desired effect on the Admiral.

“Oh, well, I uh...just like getting some greasy food,” it’s not quite the response that Keith was hoping for, but he also figures it’s the most reasonable one for Shiro to give.

The two remain silent as Shiro makes it into Garrison City proper—at least the sign saying  _ WELCOME TO GARRISON CITY _ makes Keith assume it must be the town finally—and he navigates through the small streets. Keith is vaguely familiar with some aspects of Earth through what his mother has told him and the few accounts that exist in the Daibazaal Library and Archives, but most of this is new to him. There are different colored lights that indicate when the cars may stop or go, but then sometimes there’s just a red shape with  _ STOP _ written across it, and somehow all the vehicles know when it is their turn to proceed. They pass a variety of buildings that Keith guesses must be shops and restaurants and other businesses of humans that he isn’t familiar with. 

Eventually, Shiro pulls them into an area where other cars are parked along with some hoverbikes. They all look different than the Garrison vehicles that Shiro has been driving, and Keith wonders if there are even more types of things he can drive and fly on this planet. The thought intrigues him. “Where are we?” he asks.

“Well, when I can get away from the Garrison and its subpar meals, I like to come here for some greasy food,” Shiro gestures to the building they’re parked in front of. It has a bright shining sign that says DINER across it.

“A diner?” Keith asks.

“Yeah, it’s a restaurant that just sells a bunch of food, almost anything you can think of they can whip up,” Shiro explains. “Traditionally, diners used to just have food you can find on Earth, obviously, but thanks to the Coalition, the menu has vastly expanded along with our knowledge of the universe.”

“Oh,” Keith says in surprise. He’s never really been one who’s too interested in food, really. He just sees it as a means of nourishment that is required for him to be able to stay alive and train, but there’s something about the aspect of non-Galran foods that definitely raises his intrigue.

“Interested?” Shiro asks.

“Yes,” Keith turns to look at Shiro, and he finds a bright smile on the Admiral’s face. It takes his breath away a little bit.

Keith follows Shiro as he leads him out of the car and into the diner. The person who greets them seems to recognize Shiro, which Keith figures makes sense. He is the face of the Coalition on Earth, and given what Shiro said earlier, he’s likely a frequent customer at this location as well. They’re taken to large seats that look very comfortable with a table in between, but when Keith sits down he finds the seats more firm than he was expecting. It must show because of what Shiro says when they are seated.

“I know, they want to keep the traditional diner vinyl seats, but they’re not the most comfortable,” Shiro explains, apologetic. “It’s been, like, over a hundred years since diners were first a thing, but no, some things just don’t get to change with the times.” Shiro laughs.

“It’s okay,” Keith smiles. “We have similar things on Daibazaal, where no matter what time passes, the traditional way stays.”

“Yeah?” Shiro grins. “I’d like to hear about that.”

Keith doesn’t get a chance to say anything else because the person helping them comes by again and asks which menu they want. “Oh, we’ll take both,” Shiro answers, and then he’s handed two datapads. “One is the traditional Earth menu and the other is the Coalition menu. I know what’s on both of them already, so why don’t you take a look through them. You can tap on any of the things to see pictures and find out more about the ingredients and how it’s prepared.” Shiro passes both datapads to Keith, and he takes them with thanks.

To be honest, Keith wasn’t prepared to have to look through all this himself, so he makes a show of just scrolling through and tapping on a few things he thinks look interesting. He sees a section for Olkari specialties. He’s heard of Olkarion and the talented people of the planet, and he thinks that means their food must be good as well. After a few minutes of getting wrapped up in the menus, Keith looks back up at Shiro and finds the man sitting with his fingers steepled and elbows resting on the table. The sleeves of his jacket have been rolled back exposing his forearms—one smooth skin and the other gleaming metal. He looks good.

“Made any choices?” Shiro asks.

“Um, no, maybe?” Keith says with uncertainty.

Shiro laughs. “It’s definitely overwhelming, I’m sorry, is there any type of thing you want to try?”

“Something from Earth and something Olkari,” Keith states.

Shiro nods, “Good choices. Okay, are you alright with me choosing?”

“Yes.”

“Great, then I’ll order for us,” Shiro gives Keith that bright smile again.

As if on cue, the server appears and asks if they’re ready. Shiro orders a few things for them, the Olkari dish being something Keith remembers looking at from the menu. Once that’s done, they sit in silence. Keith looks down at his hands and examines the purple of his skin and light fur along with how his nails are trimmed down right now so his claws are not as harmful. For a moment, he likes to think that he’s on a nice outing with someone he finds attractive and not some type of diplomatic trip where the man he’s interested in doesn’t even know who he really is. Keith doesn’t like thinking about what will happen when everything is revealed, even if Lotor keeps telling him that it will be alright, but Keith doesn’t know how much he believes that.

Shiro’s communicating device goes off, and he winces in annoyance as he pulls it out of his jacket’s front pocket. A frown comes across his face when he looks at the screen. “I’m sorry, I need to take this. It’ll be fast, though,” Shiro tells him. Keith simply nods, and Shiro slides out of his seat and goes outside to answer the call. Keith is both disappointed that it took Shiro away from the table and their conversation, but he’s also relieved that he doesn’t have to sit here and pretend to be Lotor for a few minutes.

Keith looks out the window to see Shiro pacing as he speaks into the communicator. Shiro glances up and catches Keith’s eyes on him and smiles. He gives a little wave to Keith, which Keith returns. It’s childish, so simple, and achingly innocent, Keith thinks, but it does something overwhelming to his heart that he was not prepared for. 

Really, Keith was not prepared for one Admiral Takashi Shirogane at all and how he would slowly find ways to get into Keith’s cracks and fit there so easily in the few days they’ve been together.

To distract himself, Keith pulls out his own communication device and looks through any messages he might have. Infuriatingly, he has one from Lotor that simply asks  _ having fun, little blade? _ and Keith thinks he might actually murder the Prince, consequences be damned. He wonders if Shiro would be impressed and okay with the idea of leaving the Earth as fugitives together, traveling the universe. Keith doubts it, but it’s a nice thought.

Shiro comes back into the diner shortly afterward, apologetic for leaving, but then their food arrives, and his eyes are set on what has been placed on the table in front of them.

“Okay, I’ll tell you what everything is,” Shiro says, and then points to each plate. “Cheeseburger, sweet potato fries, and mac and cheese, those are Earth foods, and Roast Betazed with Riffle Dace is from Olkarion. It’s a kind of...well...maybe it wouldn’t help to explain it in Earth food terms, just try it.”

“I read the description of this on the menu, it looks good,” Keith assures Shiro.

“Great, well, here,” Shiro starts to cut up the food and place some on the plate in front of Keith. The gesture makes Keith’s eyes go wide. The act of serving another food, especially before serving yourself, is only something done between Galra who are completely and utterly devoted to the other in a marriage bond. Keith knows that Shiro clearly isn’t aware of this, or he forgot, but watching Shiro gently place some of these sweet potato fries in front of him makes Keith feel content beyond words.

“Thank you,” Keith says softly.

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Shiro gives him another wide and warm smile. Keith watches Shiro load his plate and then tells Keith to “dig in” and start eating. 

It’s nice, both the food and the company with Shiro. And once again, Keith lets the warmth of dishes and man in front of him lull him into an easy feeling that this is just a relaxing time out and nothing else. Keith can later deal with the consequences when Shiro refers to him as Prince Lotor again, but right now, Keith wishes it was just him, Keith, with Shiro.

\---

“I can’t help but notice that you don’t, well, seem too happy that we reached an agreement?” Shiro speaks slowly, careful not to offend the Prince. Their little trip together to Garrison City had gone fairly well the day before. Shiro still questions why Allura had not gone as well and why Lotor’s right-hand Blade member hadn’t joined too, but he’s still thankful to have had the time with the Prince. It was nice. Very nice, actually. Shiro feels a bounce in his step every time he thinks about it.

But through the duration of this final meeting, something seemed off about the Prince. He barely spoke, deferring most of the concluding discussions between them to Keith. 

“I’m not too fond of diplomatic meetings,” Lotor huffs, and he pouts as well. Shiro doesn’t think that probably falls under what qualifies as very princely, but he does think it fits the category of cute perfectly. He then immediately smacks himself mentally because Shiro is not supposed to be interested in him. He’s not. But Shiro is fighting a losing battle right now with how drawn he keeps becoming to Lotor. 

“Well, what are you fond of?” Shiro knows the connotation behind what he said as soon as the words are out of his mouth. It eerily mirrors what Shiro said last night when they were driving out to Garrison City.

The Prince’s ears twitch, causing a dark strand of hair to fall free and into his face. He smirks and looks Shiro up and down, which makes Shiro swallow nervously. It’s an evaluating look that feels like he’s sizing Shiro up, and it makes Shiro hot. “Do you spar, Admiral?” Lotor asks. 

“Yes,” Shiro’s voice is rough when he replies. “Want to join me in the gym?” Shiro asks without stopping to think, but, honestly, his higher brain functions seem to have ceased to exist the second he saw the Prince’s eyes grow dark. 

“Sounds perfect,” Lotor smiles, and then he turns on his heel and walks down the hall in the direction of where Shiro knows to be the guest quarters where the Galra are staying. Shiro stands there watching the Prince walk away, and once he’s out of sight, Shiro turns around to start walking towards his own quarters.

Shiro wasn’t really ready for this whole developing a crush on the heir of a planet they’re trying to recruit to the Coalition thing, but he’s trying to just cruise along with it as best as he can—especially since he is not technically supposed to be falling for the Prince. But after the time they’ve spent together, there’s just something there that Shiro can’t figure out that draws them together. The Prince is kind and curious, and they share a love for the stars and flying. Sure, Shiro shares that with some other people with the Garrison, but the way the two of them talk about it feels distinctly different than with anyone else. Maybe, just a little bit, Shiro wishes he could go to the stars with the Prince.

\---

Keith makes his way to the gym where he’s supposed to meet Shiro and can’t believe he asked the Admiral to spar, but, well, there’s no turning back now. Also, Keith is fairly confident that he can win against the human—bulky muscles, Altean arm, and all.

The automatic doors into the gym woosh open to the sides when Keith steps foot in front of them, and then he slowly walks into the room. It’s a large space full of different areas for exercising. There are a few pieces of equipment that look similar to machines that are popular to use among the Galra, but they’re rarely used as practicing hand-to-hand with another Galra is always preferred. His presence at the Garrison is also something most have already gotten used to, and Keith receives a few nods of acknowledgement as he makes his way through to find Shiro.

“Are you looking for Shiro, uh, the Admiral?” someone asks, and Keith seeks out who spoke to him. There’s a somewhat shorter human with hair pulled back into a ponytail and a scar on one side of his face. “Sorry, I’m Matthew Holt, Science Officer, I’m friends with Shiro and figure you’re here looking for him.”

“Oh, yes, nice to meet you,” Keith sticks out his hand to greet the human, and he’s surprised when instead of the usual handshake he’s gotten used to on Earth he gets a proper Galran greeting with a grip to the arm. “I’m—”

“It’s okay, I know you’re Prince Lotor,” Matthew laughs, “And you can call me Matt.” 

Keith is thankful that Matt stops him because he did almost slip and introduce himself as Keith instead of the Prince, so he sighs in relief internally. “Thank you, Matt, and, yes, if you could tell me where Shiro is, that would be most helpful.”

“Sure, no problem, follow me,” Matt says and gestures for Keith to walk along with him. “I hear you’ve been getting along pretty well with Shiro.”

“Yes, I suppose so, we’ve gotten to spend some time together outside of the Coalition meetings, so that has helped to get to know the Admiral,” Keith tries to keep his answer as vague as possible.

“How about with Princess Allura?” Matt asks.

“Oh, well, she seems to be busy with other matters a lot, so Shiro has been kind enough to show me around some areas of the Garrison,” Keith stumbles at the start of the sentence but feels like he gave an adequate answer.

Matt gives a small snort, which confuses Keith, but then he continues his line of questioning. “What about your advisor, Keith, that’s his name, right? He hasn’t been accompanying you either?”

“Keith...yes, he, well, he’s got some of his own matters to attend to as well, I think, with the other Blades and my generals who are also here,” Keith attempts to explain. 

“Interesting.”

“Interesting?”

“Yeah,” Matt nods as they turn a corner to a hallway that has large windows looking into empty rooms with mats on the floor. “I thought King Alfor wanted you and Allura to spend some time together, so it's just interesting that you and Shiro are instead.”

“Why is that interesting?” Keith huffs, annoyed now.

“I don’t know, actually,” Matt laughs again and they reach the last room in the hall. Keith can see through the window that Shiro is in there.

Because Shiro is in the middle of doing stretches, he doesn’t see that Matt and Keith are standing outside the room. He’s currently sitting on the floor with one leg out as he leans forward with his Altean arm to touch his foot. His clothes are also very tight and form-fitting, which Keith both appreciates and then dreads because he can already imagine the distraction that they’ll make while they spar. Keith looks down at his own outfit, a simple variation of the typical Blade uniform that’s used for training purposes. It clings to him, and, maybe if Keith hasn’t been completely imagining things when he’s with Shiro, it’ll serve its purposes as well.

Shiro looks up from where he’s stretched on the floor and sees Keith and Matt standing outside. He scrambles to stand up and waves with a smile, and Keith almost wants to sigh at how pretty a sight that is.    
“Come on,” Matt tells Keith and opens the door to the room. He has a knowing look on his face, and Keith does not like that one bit.

“Lotor, Matt, hi!” Shiro greets as they walk in and the door closes behind them.

“Hey, Shiro, are you about to ruin three days of diplomatic talks by sparring with the Prince of the planet you just had join the Coalition?” Matt asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe,” Shiro laughs and looks at Keith. “Hopefully not.”

“You would have to do more than lose to me for me to back out of the Coalition,” Keith says with a smirk.

“Oh, I’m going to  _ lose _ am I?” Shiro raises his eyebrows but the smile on his face manages to get even wider. 

“Yes, you are,” Keith says simply. 

“I’m going to leave you both to it, then,” Matt claps Shiro on the shoulder and then makes his way out of the room. “It was nice meeting you Prince Lotor.”

“You as well, Matt,” Keith replies. Shiro and Keith stand there watching Matt leave and not give one glance back at them. “He was very kind.”

“I’m sure,” Shiro says with a roll of his eyes. “That’s just Matt.”

“So are we going to continue talking about your friend or are we going to spar?” Keith asks.

Shiro sputters. “B-but you were the one who—nevermind, okay, yes, you ready to go? Do you need to stretch at all?”

“I’m pretty flexible actually,” Keith then demonstrates by easily bending over and touching his toes and holding the position for a few seconds as his tail whips freely behind him before straightening up.

“Seems you are,” Shiro’s mouth is slightly open and he has pink creeping on his cheeks. Keith feels satisfied and like he’s already won.

“I’ll go stand over on the other side of this area, then?” Keith saunters his way to the opposite end of where Shiro is standing.

“Great, so, when do you want to go?” Shiro asks.

“Now,” Keith says and he swiftly starts to run at the Admiral.

Shiro looks dazed for a moment, but then he easily dodges out of the way of Keith’s attack. “Now that was dirty,” he scolds.

“Admiral, I know nothing of human fighting tactics, I fight like a Galra,” Keith states, and then he makes another lunge in Shiro’s direction.

This time Shiro isn’t as lucky, and Keith manages to briefly get a grip on his arm with his tail, but the Admiral shakes him off easily. 

“I see, well, then I need to change my tactics up as well, then,” Shiro chuckles. 

The two then circle each other, walking slowly with their arms up ready in defense to see who will be the first to make a move. This time, it’s Shiro, who moves swiftly for someone with such mass, Keith thinks. He dashes in at a crouch to try and take Keith down at his torso, but when Keith jumps back to attempt and avoid him, Shiro manages to grab a hold of his legs and pull him down to the ground. Keith feels surprised for a moment as he stares up at the ceiling and then looks down at where Shiro is by his legs. The Admiral has a small smile on his lips, and Keith can almost hear his voice say “hey” from that position, but he doesn’t let that last for long. Keith kicks up to try and make Shiro lose grip of his legs, but he has a strong hold on them. As a result, Keith twists to the side and slides out of his grasp with another kick that works. 

Keith moves quickly away from Shiro and gives the human a moment to think that Keith needs to take a few breaths, but then he jumps forward and makes one big leap to wrap his legs around Shiro’s neck and pull him down. Keith gets the beautiful sight of Shiro’s eyes going wide when he realizes what’s about to happen, and he moves aside just a bit too late to avoid Keith getting a hold on them. They both fall to the floor in a thud that knocks the wind out of the Admiral.

“Hello,” Keith smiles and looks down at Shiro from between his legs. He’s tempted to just stay here like this and memorize this feeling and image forever, but he doesn’t doubt the Admiral’s skills and twists to roll Shiro over onto his stomach so Keith can climb onto his back. “How are you doing?” Keith asks quietly into Shiro’s ear when he’s in position.

“I’m okay,” Shiro pants lightly. “You?”

“I think I’m winning,” Keith grins, and Shiro stretches to be able to see Keith out of the corner of one eye. 

“Bold,” Shiro laughs, but then he’s turning in Keith’s grip, and Keith scrambles to push the man back down. But Shiro is skilled and throws Keith off him, and in the process, he gets an arm around Keith’s torso and pushes him down. This ends with Keith flat on his face against the floor with Shiro on top of him, but they’re turned in opposite directions of each other. Shiro’s knees are on either side of Keith’s head, and he’s fairly certain that Shiro is eye-level with his ass. At least Keith knows this is a good view for Shiro. Keith would much prefer to be able to see up, honestly. Shiro grabs both of Keith’s wrists in his Altean hand and pins them against his back. “That was easy,” he chuckles.

“You think?” Keith gasps and wraps his tail around Shiro’s neck lightly. The Admiral simply doubts the strength Keith has in his legs, and he brings them up to give a small rock to his body to gather strength and manages to push Shiro off him with a twist. 

This time when they break apart, the two both retreat to opposite ends of the sparring area, and their breaths are coming in hard. The white bangs that always fall so delicately down Shiro’s face are currently sticking to his forehead from sweat. Keith bemoans the fact that Shiro is wearing a dark grey shirt because surely if it was white and soaked with sweat it would provide Keith something even better to look at than the vague outline of abs that he can currently see. 

They take another few seconds to stalk around in a circle before Keith grows restless and moves towards Shiro, but Shiro blocks the punch coming in his direction and then blocks every subsequent one. He manages to grasp one of Keith’s fists and pushes him back, making Keith stumble. Keith doesn’t like that and lets out a growl of frustration.

“Frustrated?” Shiro asks with another fucking knowing smirk.

“No,” Keith spits back.

“Okay,” Shiro shrugs and moves forward to try and land a few hits on Keith, but Keith blocks every single one perfectly, and then just because he can, he does a backflip to try and land a kick on Shiro’s chest, but Shiro manages to get a hold of Keith’s ankle. Keith gasps as Shiro uses the grip to bring Keith to the ground, but Keith still has the ability to make a swiping kick at Shiro’s feet. Because the Admiral is so focused on bringing Keith down, he doesn’t think about his own balance and falls to the floor as well. 

Shiro lands with a soft grunt on top of Keith. They spend a few suspended moments staring into each other's eyes, both panting lightly with just an inch of space between them. And then at the same time, they both scramble to get a hold of the other so either Shiro can fully pin down Keith or Keith can roll over Shiro and get him pressed to the floor.

Much to Keith’s frustration, it’s Shiro who wrangles Keith’s hands together and grips his wrists in one hand to press to the floor above Keith’s head.

Keith swears in Galra, and Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Now, I don’t think royalty is supposed to speak like that?”

“How do you think royalty should speak, then?” Keith wonders if he can play this right and make Shiro let go.

“I think I need to hear a ‘yield’ first, and then I can tell you,” Shiro states with a very self-satisfied smirk.

“Well, then I suppose, I’ll never know,” Keith sighs and lets his head rest fully against the floor to look up at the ceiling. 

“Aww, don’t be like that, Prince Lotor,” Shiro chides.

For some reason, it’s this time above everything else that makes Keith exceedingly upset to be called by that name. He’s not Lotor, he’s Keith, but Shiro doesn’t know that. No one on this base knows that except the Galra who are here with him. Keith hates Lotor for putting him in this position, and he wonders if all of this has been worth Lotor’s fun and amusement or whatever he thought this switching places idea would bring. Keith just wants Shiro to call him by his actual name and to be interested in him, to want to maybe, just maybe— “Fuck,” Keith grunts. He knows it to be a swear on Earth.

“My, my, who taught you that word,” Shiro feigns shock.

“My mother,” Keith replies.

Shiro looks confused. “Your mother, but—” He doesn’t get to finish the thought because he accidentally slackens his grip, which gives Keith the perfect opportunity to break free from the hold of Shiro’s hand on his wrists. It’s also the opportune moment for Keith to wrap his legs around Shiro’s torso and push him with all the strength Keith has so the Admiral rolls over. His back hits the floor with a hard smacking sound, and Shiro gasps as the air leaves his lungs all of a sudden. It’s Keith’s turn to grab Shiro’s wrists, and even though he can’t hold both of them in one hand, he’s able to stretch out and distribute his weight enough that Shiro is kept down by the wrists pressed above his head and Keith’s body weighing down on him.

Keith wiggles a bit to get into as comfortable a position as he can on top of Shiro, and in the process, he grazes across where Shiro is most definitely hard below him. Keith’s jaw drops, but the surprise also makes Keith increase the hold on Shiro’s wrists and bear down more firmly on his body. The latter does mean that Keith’s own hardness is now pressing against Shiro’s as well. He dares a look at Shiro’s face.

The Admiral is flushed, more than Keith has seen him with the occasional tint of pink to his ears or cheeks. He’s truly just red, and, oh, his eyes are half-closed as he pants hard. Shiro looks good, so good. Keith bites his lip and slowly lowers himself to move his face closer to Shiro. Even his eyelashes are a light silver to match his hair, and it makes Keith wonder about what the hair lower looks like. Keith really hopes he’ll get a chance to see it. There’s some sweat on his lashes clumping them together, which almost makes it look like Shiro has been crying.

“Shiro,” Keith whispers his name so quietly that he even wonders if he said it out loud or if it was an echo in his own head.

“Lotor,” Shiro whispers back, and the name is like jumping into one of the ice pools on northern Daibazaal. 

Keith scrambles back and away from Shiro out of fear. This is all a lie. It’s not real. Keith isn’t a prince, he’s just a simple Blade member who went along with a plan he should have just said no to. But he didn’t think any harm would come from it. But now? Well, he’s in a whole mess. Keith moves nimbly to his feet and doesn’t look back as he runs out of the room, not turning at the temptation of Shiro uttering out a confused “Lotor?” one more time as Keith gets to the door. Because looking at Shiro now will only make things worse.

\---

Shiro shakes slightly as he walks down the hallway out of the gym. That was bad. He fucked up, badly. Hadn’t Alfor looked at all of them and made the point that Allura was the one who should spend time with Prince Lotor and get to know him. Hadn’t she even seemed interested herself at the time? But instead, it seemed like Shiro and the Prince were always destined to end up having to be together when they weren’t stuck in the diplomatic meetings with Allura and Keith. And now Shiro had probably gone and completely ruined everything. He wouldn’t be surprised if the Prince was going to inform Allura that everything was off and Daibazaal wouldn’t become part of the Coalition.

Might as well go tell the Princess how he just fucked everything up.

Shiro pulls out his communicator and opens his line of communication with Allura and sends a message.

_ Hi, Allura, are you free right now? _

Shiro waits...and waits...and almost makes it to the part of the Garrison where her quarters are before he gets a reply. 

_ Oh, I’m a little busy, Shiro. Is everything okay? _

_ No, not really. If you have time to talk, I’d appreciate it. _

_ Of course, give me a few minutes. _

_ I’ll be at your quarters in a few ticks if that’s okay. _

_ OH _ _  
_ _ I mean yes. I’ll see you! _

Shiro frowns at her messages, but it’s expected that she’d be busy. She is the Princess of Altea, after all. When he reaches her door, he gives a few knocks, and the door opens quickly.

“I’ll just be a moment, Shiro!” Allura yells from somewhere inside her quarters. 

“No problem!” Shiro yells back as he steps into the main sitting area. Allura’s rooms are all very minimally decorated but have bright touches that bring out her personality everywhere from the soft silk-type fabrics she drapes over her Garrison issued furniture to the trinkets from Altea she has lining her shelves. It feels lived in, unlike Shiro’s own quarters which are minimal in the way that they seem like someone barely ever stays in there. Shiro supposes that’s true to a point—he is working a lot.

He sits down on one of the chairs in the living room area and puts his head in his hands, trying to take deep breaths so he can calm himself down a little more before telling Allura what happened.

“Oh, that’s not a good sign,” Allura sounds concerned as she enters the room. She’s wearing a light robe.

“Were you about to sleep, I’m so sorry I disturbed you, I can go,” Shiro starts to get up from the chair.

“Sit,” Allura commands, and Shiro sits back down. “Don’t try to weasel out of telling me what’s going on.”

“I’m sorry, yeah, you’re right,” Shiro apologizes sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s quite alright, but, now, Shiro, please tell me what happened, you rarely look this worrisome,” there’s a small crease between her eyebrows as she talks.

“I think I’ve ruined everything with Daibazaal,” Shiro declares.

“How?” Allura scrunches her face in confusion.

“I know that when we had that first meeting with Alfor about how the delegation from Daibazaal was coming that he hinted a little that he wanted you to form more than just a political alliance with Prince Lotor, and I was a little surprised when it seemed like you were into the idea, not to, like, judge, just, I didn’t think—” Shiro starts to ramble, but Allura cuts him off.

“I understand that part, Shiro, it’s okay,” Allura assures him.

“Okay, sorry, well, I knew that but then, I kept getting stuck—well not stuck—but always ended up spending time with Prince Lotor. We went to Garrison City together yesterday, and it was amazing, and we were just sparring…” Shiro trails off.

“You were sparring with him?” Allura raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, I know, probably not a wise thing to do right after we had them successfully join the Coalition, but, well, he didn’t seem too pleased about things. And I just wanted him to have a nice time on Earth, and he said he liked sparring, so…” Shiro doesn’t complete his thought as his mind drifts back to the feeling of the Prince’s weight on him.

“And?” Allura presses.

“Well, we ended up in a bit of a, well, suggestive position at the end,” Shiro coughs. “And I thought he was okay with it because I thought, I really did think, that maybe he was interested in me? I don’t know, it sounds dumb now that I say it out loud.”

“It doesn’t sound dumb to me at all,” Allura says softly.

Shiro scoffs. “Well, it should, since you were the one who was supposed to be getting along that well with him.

“What happened after?” Allura asks.

“He freaked out, I guess, realized what was happening and got up and ran, didn’t even look back, just ran out of the gym,” Shiro shrugs in defeat.

Allura remains silent for a moment before she speaks again. “Shiro, I know you’re feeling confused and maybe a little scared right now, but I think it will all be okay, really.”

“How can you say that? I fucked up, Princess,” Shiro whines and once again puts his head in his hands.

“You really didn’t, I promise. Go back to your quarters, freshen up, try and distract yourself, I know that’s hard, just do it,” Allura sighs. “And I’ll go speak with Prince Lotor and sort everything out.”

“Oh, Allura, I’m so sorry,” Shiro whips his head up to look at her. He’s about to speak again when he hears something from the bedroom. “Are you alone?”

“What, yes, of course,” Allura brushes off Shiro’s question.

“What was that sound?” Shiro stands up, concerned, and walks slowly. “Someone else is here.”

Allura’s eyes go wide, but it isn’t with fear. “Shiro, it’s nothing, please, let’s get back to our conversation,” she rushes over to tug at his arm, but Shiro keeps making his way to the room with his Altean arm raised and ready to fight.

“Shh, it’s okay, Allura, I’ll just make sure,” Shiro reassures her, and then he pushes the button to open the door, not thinking of anything other than securing the area to make sure no one could attack either of them. He’s more than a little surprised by what, or rather, who, he finds inside.

“Hello, Admiral,” the Prince’s advisor Keith is sitting on the bed looking extremely at ease with his long silver hair out of its braid and flowing freely. 

“What are you doing here?” Shiro asks, confused.

Rather than acknowledging Shiro, the Blade leans to the side so he can speak to Allura who’s standing behind Shiro, one hand still on his arm trying to pull him back. “Allura, my love, I do believe the trick is up.”

Shiro frowns and turns to the Princess. “Trick? Allura, what?”

Allura holds her hand up to silence him. “Shiro, trust me.”

\---

Keith storms into his quarters and immediately makes a path of frustration to his bed before throwing himself down onto it and suppressing the desire to let out a scream. This was bad. Very bad. And not at all what was supposed to happen. Keith has been repeating this over and over to himself every time he thinks about Shiro, and today it went too far.

There’s a high likelihood that he just ruined the entire agreement with the Coalition because of what just happened. Would the Admiral be petty enough to call it off because Shiro left him hot and hard in the gym? Keith didn’t think he would be, but the fear still lurked in the back of his head.

“Everything alright, little one?” Keith jolts from where he’s lying down and sees his mother sitting on the chair next to the bed.

“Oh, yes,” he lies. “Just tired.”

Krolia narrows her eyes at him. “We’ll talk later about that, but I wanted to tell you something.”

“What?” Keith sits up properly.

“I found your father,” she tells him.

Keith’s mouth falls open in surprise. He had thought she was against the idea of finding him. “What, how? But why?” he murmurs.

“I know I had told you it wouldn’t be wise to do so, but that’s what I have spent my time doing here. He lives close by, and I hope to take you to see him soon,” Krolia says. 

“Can we go now?” Keith hopes.

“Not yet, little one,” Krolia smiles. “Once you finish this mission, we’ll go.”

Keith growls in resentment that he still has to continue on with this plan of Lotor’s. It’s holding him back from doing everything he wants to on the planet. “No.”

“Just hold on for one more day, Keith, please,” Krolia pleads. “I know it has been so long, but we will go. I promise.”

Keith deflates. “Have you seen him?”

“Yes,” she answers softly. “He looks forward to seeing you as well.”

The sound of the door to the rooms makes Keith and Krolia turn to see Lotor enter. “Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting,” the Prince apologizes.

“It’s okay, Prince Lotor, I’m just leaving,” Krolia gives a bow of her head and quickly leaves before Keith has a chance to stay anything more to her.

Keith looks to Lotor. He’s wearing his usual air of relaxed nonchalance, but there’s something slightly off about him. “Hi, little blade, how are you this evening? Spend time with the Admiral?” He gives a knowing wink.

“I did,” Keith admits. “But I think I ruined everything.” The reminder of why Keith came back to his quarters hits him, and he forces himself to squash down thoughts of seeing his father since that will have to wait until all of this is sorted out first.

“I’m sure you didn’t ruin your chances with the Admiral, he seems very fond of you,” Lotor scowls.

“That’s not what I mean! Wait, what do you mean he seems fond of me?” Keith’s ears twitch in distress.

“Nothing, nothing, just sit down and tell me what happened,” Lotor waves a dismissive hand and gestures to the couch, and he also runs a hand through his hair with a sigh.

Keith sits down next to Lotor and slowly tells the Prince what occurred in the Garrison gym. “He asked me if I wanted to spar, or, well, he asked me what I wanted to do because I think I just looked sad and annoyed and bored after today’s talks because they were the least interesting of the three days, and I said I liked sparring, so, we did,” Keith explains.

“Okay, so you sparred with the Admiral,” Lotor says slowly. “I know you didn’t hurt him.”

“No!” Keith cries. “Well, not exactly.”

“What do you mean ‘not exactly,’ Keith?” Lotor asks, his voice stern.

“It was going well, and I was having a lot of fun, but, then, well, I was on top of him on the ground about to get him to yield...and I moved and felt, and he felt, and we both—” Keith stumbles, unable to say it out loud.

“Stop, stop,” Lotor shakes his head. “I think I understand perfectly well what you’re saying here. “So, then, did you and Shiro…” Lotor doesn’t finish the question.

“No, he called me by your name, and it reminded me that all of this is one big lie, and I ran away,” Keith growls. “I don’t want him if he thinks that I’m you.”

“Keith,” Lotor sighs. “You are my best friend, my advisor, you’ve been with me for basically all my life, and what I’m telling you is very important right now, okay?”

“Okay…”

“The Admiral thinks that you are you. He thinks that you are the Prince, and if he has fallen for you, well then it’s as you, for who you are because you’ve been spending time with him. Not because he thinks you’re me. He just thinks I’m some Blade,” Lotor explains.

“Some Blade? I’m not some Blade!” Keith huffs.

“Keith, please, not the point,” Lotor rolls his eyes. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Keith stops for a moment and contemplates Lotor’s words. It’s true, Shiro, for all intents and purposes, believes that Keith is the Prince, that he’s Lotor. There’s no reason for him to suspect anything else, so the feelings might be genuine...But then a thought occurs to Keith.

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be spending time with the Princess? Aren’t you supposed to be, what did Emperor Zarkon say, bring the two planets together through both power and love?” Keith frowns.

Lotor shrugs. “Yes, we are,” he says easily.

“Well, aren’t I supposed to be talking to Allura and spending time with her then, if I’m you?” Keith asks.

“Not necessarily.”

“What do you mean?”

“Little Blade, I think it’s been a long day, why don’t you rest and prepare for my parents’ arrival tomorrow.”

“But—”

“No, don’t worry, everything will be just fine.”

With that, Lotor stands up and goes into the connected quarters that he’s been staying in. It still bothers Keith that there is something most definitely up with the Prince, but he just doesn't know what.

\---

The second delegation from Daibazaal that includes Emperor Zarkon and Empress Honerva is set to arrive in two vargas. The ball to celebrate the joining of Daibazaal to the Coalition will be taking place three vargas after that. To say Shiro is extremely nervous about everything that’s going on today would be an understatement, and on top of that, he’s been called into a last-minute meeting that he’s received no details about other than Allura’s vague message about which room in the Garrison to get to immediately. 

His mind is still reeling after learning the truth last night that who he thought was the Prince was actually the real Keith the whole time and Lotor had been pretending to be Keith. Shiro didn’t stick around to find out much more because as soon as Allura and Lotor explained that part to him, Shiro turned on his heel and ran from the room, out the front door, and back to his own quarters where he collapsed against the door while trying to breathe. He spent the rest of the night ignoring any messages from Allura that came to him, but he couldn’t let this one slide because she had called it under the premise of official Coalition business. 

When Shiro enters the meeting room, Allura is sitting between Lotor and Keith on one side of the table, and Shiro presumes he’s supposed to sit across from them. The actual Prince Lotor is sitting to Allura’s right, and he has his hands clasped in front of him on the table. The real Keith has his head bowed and his staring at a spot on the table in front of him. Even though everything was a lie, Shiro still feels a strong desire to go over and take him into his arms. Shiro takes a seat across from Allura. 

“So?” Shiro asks. “What’s this for.”

Allura sighs. “To explain to you what happened.”

“Okay, I guess,” Shiro shrugs and leans back in his chair with his arms crossed. 

“First, Shiro, I want to say that I am so very sorry for all this,” Allura starts. “I really am and didn’t think you would be hurt in the process.”

Shiro grunts in response.

“Alright, well, to begin, last year when I had been on that trip to the Llapus quadrant, you had remained on the Atlas, I happened to meet Prince Lotor. It was a completely chance meeting, but it set all of this in motion, basically,” Allura explains.

“Keith was on a different mission with the Blade of Marmora at the time, so he wasn’t aware of the meeting either,” Lotor adds.

Allura nods and then continues. “Yes, Lotor and I had a short conversation but it was a good one,” Allura gives a small smile. “We exchanged methods for contacting each other, and went our separate ways. Since then, Lotor and I have been talking one-on-one about getting Daibazaal to become part of the Coalition, which all finally led to this week of him being able to come to Earth and formalize the joining. Also, during our conversations, well, we became rather fond of each other as well.” She blushes at the last statement.

“The reason I asked for Keith to switch places with me during this trip was fairly selfish, I admit,” Lotor discloses. “I wanted to be able to simply come to Earth and observe and spend some time with Allura without the eye of your Administration and King Alfor on me, and so I put Keith, my most trusted advisor, and best friend, up to the ruse as well. He wouldn’t have done all this if it wasn’t for me.”

Shiro feels a pang of regret at Keith’s name, and when Shiro looks over at him, his head is still bowed. Shiro wishes he would look up, just for a second, but he turns back to Allura. “Princess, why didn’t you tell me? Any of it?”

“Because it was something I needed to do delicately, and I am sorry for keeping you in the dark, Shiro. I had to tell my father everything earlier today, and it was difficult, but he understood. I hope you do the same,” Allura sounds solemn.

“Thank you for telling me, Allura,” Shiro says, but he feels unsteady, even though he’s seated. “I think I’ll just need some time.” He gets up from the chair and pushes away.

“Shiro, will we see you at the ball?” Allura asks.

“I’ll be there,” Shiro nods, but he’s got a lot he wants to think about first. He doesn’t look back as he walks out of the room.

Shiro doesn’t know how to feel. While on one hand, he understands why Allura hid the fact she was in contact with Lotor, and to some degree, he also understands why Lotor wanted to spend time on Earth without the attention, well, Shiro wasn’t ready to fall for Keith like that. It almost feels silly how much he feels for Keith in the time they’ve spent together, but there’s something there. There really is. 

And Shiro can’t be upset with Keith, really, he was going along with what his Prince made him do. Of course, Keith wouldn’t reveal the plan they had going on either and betray Lotor. But Shiro still can’t parse out why learning all this information has left him feeling listless like he just found out his crush in high school had just been toying with him. But even more than that, Shiro knows he very much wants to spend more time with Keith.

\---

Keith walks around the large event room where the ball celebrating Daibazaal joining the Coalition is being held, but he doesn’t really process any of the sights around him. He can’t wholly find it in him to care about any of this if he’s going to be boarding a ship back to Daibazaal soon—and especially if the Admiral now distrusts him, or it at least seems that way.

When Lotor told Keith the truth about how the Prince met Allura while Keith wasn’t with him on a trip last year, he had been furious. Not because Lotor had been communicating with the leader of another planet in secret but rather because it felt like Lotor had chosen to do this whole switching places ruse as a game for his own amusement so he could observe Earth and flirt with Allura. 

Of course, no one could have predicted that Keith Pretending To Be Lotor would end up getting along with Shiro so well. Keith never looked at Shiro once at the morning’s meeting, and when they were standing with Allura and Lotor between them at the arrival of the ship carrying Zarkon, Honerva, and the rest of their delegation, Shiro hadn’t made a single glance toward him. It hurt Keith, but also he supposed it was fair. Even though for all their conversations Keith was true to himself, Shiro understandably didn’t really know who Keith really was. But it’s him. Just Keith.

“It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

The low voice behind startles Keith, and he mentally kicks himself. What good is his refined training as a senior Blade of Marmora member if he’s so easily spooked by someone at such a large gathering. He whips around fast to see the owner of the voice and finds Shiro smiling down at him rather self-consciously.

“Admiral,” Keith addresses him tersely and then begins to move away from the human. He tries not to focus on what appears to be the formal Admiral uniform that Shiro has on. It’s beautiful and white with bits of gold accenting it. Shiro looks ethereal in it.

“Keith, please,” Shiro steps forward to follow but then stops himself. “May I please speak with you?” 

There’s both longing and hurt in his voice, and it makes Keith pause in his attempted retreat. He slowly turns back around to look at the man and nods. “Okay.”

“Can we go somewhere else?” Shiro asks and gestures to the door with a nod.

“Sure.”

Shiro gives a half-smile and starts to walk to the door, and Keith follows him. They walk a few halls away from the ballroom until Shiro unlocks a door and they slip outside. It appears to be a little-used outdoor observation deck that looks onto the desert. “Are we allowed to be here?” Keith asks.

“I’m the Admiral, so yes,” Shiro grins and leans against the railing, the stars are shining overhead. “I’m going to talk, I haven’t practiced this, so it might be horrible, but I just want to say all this and get it out there, is that okay?” Shiro waits for Keith’s permission to go on, so Keith nods. “Great, thank you. First, I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to be cold of you today, I was just trying to process everything that happened. I felt lied to by Allura and by you, but I began to understand everyone’s reasons. I mean, am I happy with them? No, but I accept them. More importantly, I knew that all the time we spent together and every conversation we had was genuine. When we were together, you weren’t pretending to be Lotor, you were just being you, Keith...and, well, that’s the person I fell for.”

Keith’s eyes go wide at the confession. “Fell for?” he asks.

“Yes, I like you Keith, quite a lot, and I think you feel the same way,” Shiro says, hopeful.

“I...yes, I do,” Keith admits. “But first, I think it’s only fair that you let me talk now as well.”

“Of course,” Shiro nods and shifts his weight from one foot to the other nervously.

“I agreed with Lotor to pretend to be him because, well, I trust him, and while I had my doubts about what we were doing, I figured he had a reason for it. I didn’t plan on, as you said, falling for you in the process. You’ve been the best part of my time on Earth, and I am sorry that it hurt you,” Keith uncrosses his arms as he speaks. “But everything I’ve said to you about myself, minus, well, being the Prince, is true. I would like to get to know you better, Admiral.”

Shiro pushes away from the railing and walks to stand in front of Keith. The fact that the Admiral is tall is something that Keith is well aware of, but having to tip his head this far back to look up at him in this position makes Keith shiver. A small breeze comes through and ruffles through both of their hair.

“I would like that,” Shiro whispers.

“Oh, good,” Keith smiles.

“What are the courting traditions of the Galra?” Shiro asks. He’s inching closer, and Keith is rocking up on his toes.

“Sparring.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“And we’ve already done that,” Shiro breathes. He’s so close.

“How do humans court a mate?” Keith asks.

“We go on dates.”

“Dates?”

“Yes, little outings together, like when we went to the diner,” Shiro explains.

“Oh,” Keith gasps. “And we’ve already done that, too.”

“We have.”

“And do humans kiss?” Keith asks.

“Fuck yes, we do,” Shiro’s voice dips an octave and it makes every nerve on Keith’s body burn.

“Good.”

The final space between them dissolves as their lips touch softly, and Keith senses that Shiro wants to keep this a light and innocent kiss. Keith doesn’t want that. He wraps his arms around the Admiral’s shoulders and pulls closer at the same time as he runs his tongue along Shiro’s lips. This successfully results in a groan from Shiro, and he also puts his arms around Keith and hauls him forward so their bodies are flush as they kiss. It’s Keith who moans when Shiro slides his tongue into Keith’s mouth and licks inside. It still doesn’t feel close enough for Keith, so he starts shoving Shiro back toward the railing. In response, Shiro moves his arms to grip below Keith’s ass and pulls him up. Keith automatically gets his legs around Shiro’s torso so the Admiral can carry him to the railing and balance him there.

They break apart for a moment. “Impressive.” Keith laughs. His tail twirls around one of Shiro’s arms playfully.

“You like that?” Shiro asks cheekily.

“Mhmm, and I can’t wait to do that to you, too,” Keith bites his lip and enjoys the way Shiro’s eyes grow dark.

“I want that so much,” Shiro tells him and moves back in to kiss Keith again.

Later, they finally make their back to the ballroom, hand-in-hand. When they walk in, Allura and Lotor manage to immediately narrow in on them and see their intertwined fingers and give them both smiles. Keith huffs in embarrassment and turns away to look at Shiro instead, and he sees the bashfulness on the Admiral’s face with his telltale blush. It’s so cute.

“Anyway, would you like to dance?” Shiro asks.

“That would be lovely,” Keith agrees. 

Shiro leads him to one side of the dancefloor. It seems there’s some kind of Earth slow dance going on right now, so Shiro shows Keith where to put his hands and then slowly starts to lead him in the steps. Keith follows better than he thought it would go, and even if he was horrible at it, Keith’s sure that Shiro’s smile wouldn’t be any less stunning.

“Can I ask you something?” Shiro says after a few minutes.

“Of course.”

“You said your mother taught you, um, a specific expression we use here as a swear?” Shiro tentatively asks.

Keith’s ears droop in confusion. “Fuck?” he asks.

Shiro chokes on a laugh. “Yes, that, how did she learn it?”

“Oh, my father, he’s human,” Keith explains.

“Really? But, I thought that the Galra never set foot on Earth before,” Shiro asks, confused.

“She crash-landed around here once on a mission, and my father happened to find her,” Keith explains. “She’s been spending our time here to try and find him, and she did.”

“Oh, that’s good news, then?” Shiro replies, and he seems worried that the findings are not good.

“It is, he’s not too far from here,” Keith nods.

“Have you seen him yet?”

“No, not yet, too busy playing Prince,” Keith laughs wryly.

“Well, you should go see him if you want. You’re only here for another few days,” Shiro urges, but there’s some disappointment in his voice, which Keith knows is at the aspect of the Galra soon leaving to go back to Daibazaal.

“I will,” Keith agrees. “I would also like to go on another date with you.”

“And I’d love to spar with you again,” Shiro grins.

“That sounds nice,” Keith closes his eyes and rests his head against Shiro’s chest. He can hear the sound of something thumping quite fast inside. Keith’s not wholly familiar with human anatomy, but he assumes it’s Shiro’s heart beating fast. It’s a comforting sound. Shiro lets out an amused laugh.

There are things that they need to work out still, most certainly, but right now, Keith feels calm.

**Author's Note:**

> yell @ me: [twitter](https://twitter.com/pushclouds)


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